If my 61 year old friend can do it it, you don't need special exercises. She is no sports woman and she was able to stand by herself pretty quick. Flexibility and your posture in relation to the board is where you problem lies IMO.

As someone said whilst still sitting on the ground suck your knees up and get your weight over the board as you try to stand.
Practice at home on a piece of tarp. Its actually easy if you set up right.

Different people are good at different things. *In high school I could run a 5 min mile but my 100 yard dash time was terrible - I don't this meant I was out of shape - I just wasn't built for sprinting.

In college I had 6-pack abs and could leg press 600 pounds but I was terrible at squats - I don't think this meant I was out of shape - I just wasn't good at squats.

I'm 6'2" and 210 pounds so I'm probably not the ideal size for snowboarding but I do enjoy it and want to get better at it. *Some people need to train more than others for some things. *I think if I do these exercises at least twice/week then I'll have better strength, flexibility, coordination and balance. *I think all of these things will help make me a better snowboarder.

for getting up heelside, I came up with a system (by accident) that works for me. If I can get my butt off the snow at all, I immediately rotate the board 90 degrees clockwise (I'm regular) so the tail is under my butt. After that, getting up is easy.

__________________
I told my kids, "Someday, you'll have kids of your own." One of them said, "So will you."
-- Rodney Dangerfield.

I was at the gym tonight and I found a great solution for what I'm looking for! One poster said if it's hard for you to get up on your snowboard then you're simply out of shape. I disagree. Last year was my first time snowboarding and at that time I was riding my mountain bike 50 miles/week - so reasonably in shape.

However, when you ride your bike your knees don't typically bend more than 90 degrees so you don't work some of the muscles that you would normally work if you bent your knees more. You can do leg presses and this helps a bit. However, the element of balance is key. For example, you can bench press a lot more on rails than you can free form because the rails manage the balance for you. Likewise, getting up on your snowboard is a more complex motion than typical gym exercises.

I came up with a great solution at the gym tonight. If you've ever used a FreeMotion machine before you know great it is for targeting different muscle groups, especially the FreeMotion Dual Cable Cross: FreeMotion Dual Cable Cross

So I've created 2 exercises: 1 for getting up toeside and 1 for getting up heelside. Get one of the mats to make the ground softer and put it at the base of the machine.

heelside:
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Do this exercise facing the machine. Find a good weight level that will provide a good amount of resistance for letting you gracefully decline to the ground on your rear. Then use your leg strength and leverage the negative resistance of the machine to help you get up. Adjust the weight as needed and reduce weight as you get better at this exercise.

toeside:
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Do this exercise facing away from the machine. This helps replicate the gravity of getting up toeside facing down a hill. Put a padded bar through the handles of the machine and put the bar under your arms. From a standing position use the negative resistance to slowly lower yourself to your knees on the ground. Then try to get up from your knees by rolling back from your toes onto your feet. Use your leg strength and leverage the negative resistance of the machine to help you get up. Adjust the weight as needed and reduce weight as you get better at this exercise.

Most people simply don't use this full range of motion/balance on a daily basis so this is a great training exercise. I did these exercises tonight and my legs felt almost *exactly* like they did after my first snowboard experience last year. My legs were like "WTF just happened?!" and I was waddling around like an 80 year old lady. I'm surprised I haven't read anyone recommend these exercises because they do mimic the actual motions very closely.

I plan to keep doing these exercises as much as possible when I go to the gym and I believe when I go snowboarding at the end of the year I'll be able to easily and consistently get up on my snowboard from heelside and toeside....

Huh? sounds like you are using the machine's resistance to lower yourself to the ground rather than your own balance. that doesn't make sense to me.

Umm, why would you get up on your toeside facing down the hill? i guess if you want a challenge

I really feel like it would be a better use of your time for you to just strap into your board and stand up a couple times everyday, rather than using some cable workout weight thingy.

From the sounds of it your using the machine to help set you down and pull you up? idk i guess i really don't understand

Doing the exercise slowly builds a more controlled strength. Professional weight lifters will tell you it's better to use a lighter weight with a more contolled motion than a heavier weight with a jerkier motion.